This past Saturday night, five division world champion Floyd Mayweather made debut in the UK.
The retired fight took party in another exhibition bout, which saw him easily outbox MMA fighter and reality TV star Aaron Chalmers over eight rounds. There were no judges, and no decision was announced.
The bout headlined a pay-per-view event from the O2 Arena in London.
However, numerous fans took notice, and posted photos on social media, of empty sections in the venue.
In the days leading up to the fight, tickets were discounted as the event failed to generate the type of interest that the organizers had expected.
Mayweather explained that there were good reasons for the lower than expected turnout.
“We did this in one month – not even four weeks. I think the tickets should’ve went on sale a lot faster. My new team is still learning. I have got to take my hat off to them, it’s not their fault. It’s just when we fight in the US, as soon as we announce the fight, tickets are on sale,” Mayweather said to Give Me Sport.
“Here, we announced the fight and the tickets didn’t go on sale until a week or two weeks later. I don’t point fingers. We work together as a team. When you buy tickets over here, you don’t really want to spend money. In America we don’t mind spending money.”
Mayweather retired from the sport in 2017, with a perfect record of 50-0, after stopping UFC superstar Conor McGregor in a cross-sport showdown.
The following year, Mayweather began his exhibition journey by traveling to Japan to score an easy knockout of kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa. After being paid well for that appearance, Mayweather has taken part in several exhibitions. The event which received the most attention, and the biggest success on pay-per-view, was Mayweather’s 2021 exhibition against social media star Logan Paul.
Credit: BoxingScene